Lorena Wiebes claimed the first yellow jersey of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes after a powerful sprint on the uphill finish in Lausanne, beating Kim Le Court and Demi Vollering on Sunday. The SD Worx-Protime rider timed her effort perfectly to take her sixth career stage win in the race, crossing the line ahead of the 2023 champion Vollering and Le Court, who pipped Vollering for second.
Decisive attack and sprint finish
Wiebes, 27, had to respond when Vollering launched a late attack on the Côte Saint-François, but her raw speed proved decisive in the final 600 metres. "The team worked super hard today," Wiebes said. "When Demi attacked, I knew I had to follow. It was a long sprint, but I'm super happy."
The stage, which started in Lausanne and wound through rolling countryside, was marked by high temperatures and a series of climbs that split the peloton. After 83 kilometres, on the third-category Côte de Villars-le-Comte, a group of riders lost contact, while one of the day's four breakaways, French rider Océane Mahé of the Ma Petite Entreprise team, took the lead in the Queen of the Mountains classification. The breakaway was caught with six kilometres remaining, setting up the dramatic finale.
Team support and Giro controversy
Wiebes' victory comes after a turbulent period. In May, she won the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia Women but was disqualified when her bike was found to be slightly under the legal weight limit of 6.8 kilograms. The decision cost her the pink leader's jersey and sparked a bitter dispute between her team and cycling's governing body, the UCI, over the weighing process. "I would have been perfectly fine with it if the scale had consistently shown the same weight," Wiebes said. "But having the bike's weight vary during the weighing process – that was the most frustrating part for me."
Her team manager, Danny Stam, confirmed that legal action against the UCI is pending. "Our team's lawyers are working on it," he told De Telegraaf. "We've received feedback but it's going to be a long process. Still, justice needs to be served. I just find it unacceptable that a decision with such a huge impact on a rider is made when a bike is hanging from a tent that's nearly blowing away. Can't we operate a bit more professionally in this day and age? Can't we just weigh a bike inside an enclosed truck, away from the wind?"
Race standings and outlook
Wiebes now leads the general classification by four seconds over Le Court and six seconds over Vollering. Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot finished eighth, trailing by ten seconds. The race's overall outcome is expected to be decided by minutes, but Vollering's sports director, Lars Boom, valued the time gains. "That's always nice," Boom said. "You never know what's going to happen with wildfires in France, so in the end it's always better to get seconds than to have to gain seconds."
Tuesday's second stage starts in Aigle, near the UCI headquarters, and features five more climbs before a flat finish on Geneva's Quai du Mont-Blanc, which should suit Wiebes' sprinting abilities. With the yellow jersey on her shoulders, she will be the rider to beat as the race heads into the mountains.
